The Quest for Constitutionalism in South Africa'

• Author: M. Muravyeva
• Position: National Research University (Higher School of Economics) (Moscow, Russia)
• Pages: 138-143

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume III (2016) Issue 1

BOOK REVIEW NOTES

THE QuEST FoR ConSTITuTIonaLISM In SouTH aFRICa1

MARIANNA MURAVYEVA,

National Research University (Higher School of Economics)

(Moscow, Russia)

DOI:10.21684/2412-2343-2016-3-1-138-143

Recommended citation: Marianna Muravyeva, The Quest for Constitutionalism in

South Africa, 3(1) BRICS Law Journal 138–143 (2016).

South A frica has gone a ver y long way from ap artheid to a rule-o f-law state

thanks to being a frontier of tra nsformative co nstitutionalism. Starting with an

interim constitution of 1993, it made its way to the 1996 Constitution of the Republic

of South Africa, that signi ed new constitutional ism whose aim was to pursue ‘a

better life for all’. This road to democracy, social justice, equality was not an easy

one for South Africans and it is still much in progress, but they have managed to

achieve some democracy in its transition. Whether the path South African society

is navigating will lead the country and its people to the full accomplishment of this

social project is the aim the reviewed volume seeks to achieve.

Hugh Corder, a Professor of Public Law at the University of Cape Town, Veronica

Federico, a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Public Law of the University

of Florence, and Romano Orrù, a Professor of Public Comparative Law at the University

of Teramo, have pu lled together an impressive volume of chapters providing an

in-depth analysis of the development of the legal system and of the implications

of the Constitution for the social conguration of power. Five parts of the volume

respectively focus on the structure of the state (part I), rights, equality and the courts

1 Reviewed book: Corder Hugh, Veronica Federico, and Romano Orrù (eds.) The Quest for Constitutionalism:

South Africa Since 1994 (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2014).